Kennedy Manages to Beat Sea Kings

It was a makeshift lineup and maybe a makeshift attitude.

Kennedy Coach Mitch Olson said following his team’s 14-8 victory over Corona del Mar that his two starting inside linebackers missed the game and he had to move guys around. He had five players out of position on defense, he lamented.

So, who was missing?

“None of your business,” Olson snapped.

Either Olson is taking Kennedy’s No. 9 ranking pretty seriously, or he was still a little uptight after watching his team sputter toward the finish line.

Whatever, Kennedy (2-1) got the victory and Corona del Mar (0-3) the loss. And Charlie Marino got his yards.

Marino, pressed into a makeshift one-back offense because of all the player movement, rushed 33 times for 132 yards and two touchdowns. His teammates ran 17 times for minus-seven.

Marino also got some yards from the air. He caught three passes for 56 of Kennedy’s 101 passing yards. The key reception was a 49-yarder he caught behind the Sea King secondary, setting up his one-yard touchdown run with 1 minute 24 seconds left in the first half. It was part of a 12-play, 86-yard drive.

In all, the Kennedy offense netted 226 yards, and Marino got credit for 188 of them.

Corona del Mar committed turnovers its first four possessions of the second half--and three came on the first play of a series--giving Kennedy possession at the Corona del Mar 35, nine, 13 and 24.

But Kennedy scored only once, when Marino’s four-yard touchdown run capped a 13-yard drive.

That set the stage for a fourth-quarter rally by the Sea Kings. Brian Hogan (20 carries for 96 yards) rushed for 49 of the 55 yards on the drive and scored from the four with with 2:31 left. Quarterback Josh Walz ran in the two-point conversion to make it 14-8.